I have a BMW K1300GT with a Hannigan GTL car. I'm looking at a Bunkhouse LX camping trailer but worry about stress on the bike's drivetrain. The bike has 160 HP so pure power is not a problem, but I worry about the clutch and rear drive. What are the opinions out there? The trailer weighs 340 lbs, but I'm sure I'd load it up given that it has lots of storage room. Opinions appreciated.
Mike
I pulled camper with GL1500 single bike and sidecar rig for 6 years now. See no any problems with bikes.
I pulled an old Applebee camper with a 78 GL1000 for 4-5 years and never had any problems with drivetrain/clutch or rear drive.
I ride an '86 1200 wing. I have had it for two year. Initially it had 38K miles, a cali sidecar, and a trailer hitch. I did not have the trailer that the P.O apparently pulled. This spring I had to replace the final drive / propeller shaft. It was clear on disassembly the previous owners had failed to adequately lubricate the splines. They were gone.
Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.
Just sayin'
Jim
I pulled trailer for years on 1981 - 82 Goldwings with Watsonian sidecars and pulled tent trailer with 3 of us on board. Never had a clutch problem.
I pulled my Kwik Kamp from 1991 until I sold it in 2002 and an older Time Out trailer before that with no problems related to towing. One thing I will say though is that people used to claim "you don't even know it's back there." Yeah you do. And when you pull into the campground, unhook and set the tent up, then jump on the bike to run into town for a bit, that's when you realize instantly how light and powerful your bike suddenly became. Sold the KK as part of buying the Liberty and now tow only my small cargo trailer. So all my larger trailer towing was on two wheels, not three.
Well, I pulled an old Kwik Kamp with the canvas tent and mounted the unit on a harbor freight trailer to get rid of the old torsion suspension . It weighed about 600 lbs when loaded. My 1993 Gl1500 two wheeler pulled it with no problems or troubles until I sold the 1500 with 170,000 miles on it. it is now being pulled by my 2002 1800 two wheeler. As soon as I get a hitch made up for my new to me 1994 GL1500 side car rig I will be pulling it with that and I don't expect any troubles.
Hmmm, most of the replies are trailers being towed with Goldwings, anybody have issues towing with BMW and their brand of clutches?
The weak area on any of the BMW's has been the final drive area, at least that is where the problems seem to crop up. I think the rest of the bike is up to the task, but if I already had a sidecar on the bike, I wouldn't pull a trailer as well. I've had many wings over the years and they have a better rear drive ( at least the older ones before the 1800 - single sided swing arm ) and rarely ever had any issues. I can't comment on the 1800 as I never owned one. My 2 cents for what they are worth.
I have pulled a trailer for many miles with my R1150RT and my R100RT before that with no issues. I have had a sidecar on the 1150 for about 28k miles and do pull the trailer with it when we are camping. The bike now has 70k miles and have not had any problems. I did change my final drive about 7500 miles ago but only to go with lower gearing. Still original clutch also. 3 or 4% of the oilheads had final drive problems, and I beleive the K1200 had slightly more problems, but you hear a lot about them becuase us BMW riders like to whine. A frind aquired a used final drive from a K1200LT that had something like a 140k miles on it without being rebuilt. YMMV.
